(I’ve replayed this mod three times, but I have yet to play the most recent update. Still, I believe what I have to say is relevant.)
This was originally a Terraria review, but I realized that I haven’t played vanilla/unmoded in forever. Instead, I’ve been playing this.
Calamity is one of the largest and most popular mods for Terraria. It can easily stand on its own, as it has more than enough content to have an entire playthrough different from the original. This mod expands upon every single aspect of the vanilla game. Featuring new mechanics, bosses, biomes, weapons, NPCs a new class, and even harder difficulty settings. They are all of extremely high quality, having features I didn’t even think were possible in Terraria. That’s the reason why I didn’t bother going back to unmoded, Calamity always had more content that was closer to what I wanted, i.e., extreme difficulty.
I highly recommend it to anyone that wants to experience modded Terraria, and/or is seeking a tougher challenge than vanilla. It does lean more toward the combat portion, especially bosses, so I wouldn’t recommend it to someone, who is a big fan of the calmer parts of the game.

𝐒𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲
It doesn’t add a storyline to the game.
It does however have a lot of lore, that is used to, in a way, tie the world together. Most of the vanilla lore is overwritten and replaced with its version, which has its own characters and world history. It is quite fascinating and worth paying attention to.

𝐌𝐞𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐠𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐲
While a lot of content has been added, the gameplay loop has stayed the same. Defeat a boss, find out what has changed in the overworld, start getting the best gear and building the needed arena, defeat the next boss, and so on. Rudimentary, but it has given me countless hours of entertainment.
When looking at the bosses added and their gameplay, it does become apparent that Calamity leans more into the bullet hell genre, requiring precise movement and fast reaction times to stay alive. While a lot of attention has been put into making sure that the bosses are still, balanced and a fun fight, for those who just look at the cool weapons normal mode still exists. For me, however, that was why I kept coming back. The thrill of beating an extremely hard boss was like nothing else.
Overall, there isn't that much to say, it's just Terraria but more.

𝐆𝐫𝐚𝐩𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐬/𝐀𝐫𝐭𝐬𝐭𝐲𝐥𝐞
Calamity has incredible sprite and pixel art. Every weapon, tool, and enemy is meticulously crafted and somehow never feels out of place. There is a consistent tone and art direction that persists throughout the mod. The only place where a discrepancy can be spotted is when you compare them to vanilla. This is especially true for the endgame.

𝐀𝐭𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐩𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞/𝐈𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧
The way I felt during my playthrough and how I interpret the atmosphere is as such. You are on a mission to defeat your mortal enemy – the Tyrant, and no foe or abomination will stop you. Why? Who knows, revenge, power, justice, they are all possibilities. I believe it's open to interpretation.

𝐒𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐤
Back when I first played Calamity, I thought the OST was the coolest thing ever. I was right. It’s very rare to see a mod, not related to music, have such an incredible soundtrack. DM DOKURO and the other composers who have worked on the OST have created an amazing piece of music that I continue to listen to outside the game, just as much as I do inside.
Every boss and biome has a unique track that fits perfectly into the theme of said boss or biome.
My favourite is “Roar of the Jungle Dragon”. (I like lyrics in OSTs)

𝐅𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐓𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬
Okay, this is sort of unrelated to the mod. Back in one of my playthroughs, I had a mod installed that while carrying a certain amount of a potion in your inventory, gave you its buff, without needing to drink it. Another mod had a potion that gave a buff/debuff called heart attack. So, my character was running around fighting gods, while going through a permanent heart attack.

(Played on an Android emulator)
For me, Punishing: Gray Raven represents how important marketing is. The only reason why I found it is because some guy (Max0r) used its soundtrack in an Elden Ring video. At that time, I had played Genshin Impact for about a year already, so I was in the gacha game sphere. Still, I had never heard of this game.
Yes, it is a gacha game, one that is better than most, but if you dislike this genre this game won’t change your mind. It has all the usual things you would see in a gacha – gambling for characters, anime, dailies, events, in-game purchases, and so on. What sets PGR apart from the rest is the combat. It might look like Genshin Impact at a glance, but the similarities end the moment you see any gameplay footage. It’s the gacha version of DMC.
It’s not the most frontal lobe-engaging game out there, but I don’t think everything I watch and play has to have some deeper meaning. I would recommend it to any gacha fans who want something more fast-paced. However, you should know that PGR is probably close to the end of its life. Not that it will be shut down, just that there won’t be any new updates.

𝐒𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲
Disclaimer: I don’t know that much about the lore and story overall.
Set in a dystopian post-apocalyptic cyberpunk world, a virus by the name of punishing ravaged the planet. It kills humans and turns machines, of which there are a lot, into killers. Some part of humanity moved to outer space, where with the help of sentient machines they attempt to take back what’s theirs. You play as one of those commanders who gets periodically sent down to do whatever mission has to be done. The story progresses from there.
The main story is quite long at 24 chapters and there is no shortage of side stories, backgrounds for each character, limited-time events, and others. Most of it is told in the same way as a visual novel. It's okay, some parts are better than others, but overall, it’s just okay.
Honestly, I wish it wasn’t that way. I want to get attached to these characters and storyline, but the game rarely gets to the level where that’s possible.

𝐌𝐞𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐠𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐲
First off, the UI is horrific. Menus upon menus with so many buttons that all take you to different places. (There are FOUR different places that give rewards for logging in daily) I could hop on right now and mash random places on the screen and I would end up in a somewhere I haven’t been before. Not to mention the gigantic number of currencies and tokens of exchange. The first learning curve is simply figuring out where everything goes. You could spend hours on PGR and never see an ounce of gameplay.

Eventually, you will end up in the gameplay portion of this game.
You have a team of three characters, but can only play as one of them at a time. Each one has a class, a weapon (most of the time unique to them), and an element. As such, building the perfect team takes a lot of experimentation and expertise. If you want to skip all that, you can easily see the best equipment and team for each character.
It’s not an open world but rather mission-based. Most of the time it’s go here and kill everything standing in your way. There are a multitude of ways that can be achieved. First is the standard attack, i.e., just hitting the enemy. Then there is the unique part. Throughout the fight, in addition to dodging and attacking, you also play a very simplified version of a match 3 game. Orbs of 3 different colours come down along a singular line. Each one unleashes a special attack and the damage is boosted depending on how many of the same colour you ping. Depending on the character, they charge your ultimate attack, which can be a variety of things. All of this happens very fast, so good reaction times are required.
There is a lot more to talk about, when and what should be activated, dodging, attributes unique to each character, and so on, but those are the basics. Overall, as I said it is the best part of PGR and there is a lot of fun to be had, building the best team, perfectly executing combos, and so forth. Besides, it looks cool as fuck, every attack is so fast and has so much punch behind it, it’s worth playing just to see it. While certainly not the best hack-and-slash ever, it is the best if we are only looking at gacha games.

Character design itself goes from okay to amazing, depending on who you are looking at. They are all humanoid-looking robots, and as such a lot of mechanical and cybernetic elements are present. Still, it is a gacha game with anime characters, so the fan service is there, in many places. What purpose does the miniskirt serve in combat? (Serving I guess) English voice acting can be a bit flat on some of them, so I mostly stick to Japanese. Especially since I would have to hear some variation of “Hurts doesn't it” 20 times in a mission.
Another sin of gacha games present here is gambling and microtransactions. If you want a certain character, you either pay or grind. I should say there are guarantees present once a certain number of rolls is reached. You can also pay for everything else, so you can trivialize the entire game if you have wealth equivalent to an Arabian oil prince. Generally, it’s quite easy to simply ignore all these microtransactions. Indeed, they will become more enticing once you enter the endgame. But tell me, will you play long enough for that to happen? I certainly haven’t.

𝐆𝐫𝐚𝐩𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐬/𝐀𝐫𝐭𝐬𝐭𝐲𝐥𝐞
Pretty good for a game that is supposed to run on mobile. At times, however, it does make me wish that that wasn’t the case. There is a lot of disparity, some places look pretty, while others look like they were ripped from the PS 2. When there is a close-up of any model, it becomes apparent what hardware PGR is made for.
The artwork itself is fantastic, I wish there was more.

𝐀𝐭𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐩𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞/𝐈𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧
Maybe there would be some immersion, but each menu, pop-up, or limited-time event takes a sledgehammer and destroys any possibility of that happening. You really have to try to immerse yourself.

𝐒𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐤
The soundtrack is a genuine banger. I don’t know the exact genre – possibly electronic/EDM. It fits the theme of the rest of the game fairly well, and it's listenable outside the game. My favourite part is “NARWHAL”.

𝐅𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐓𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬
Here is my take on the gacha curse. These types of games have a lot of potential and are only being held back by being this genre. However, the only reason why they have that potential is because they are gacha games. There is no winning.

Is this just a Factorio clone? Yes, in the same way, that every shooter after the release of Doom was a Doom clone.
Mindustry is a combination between an automation game and a tower defense. Instead of having a big open world, you are limited to a small area and its resources. Those materials have to be turned into the most efficient defense possible, otherwise you risk being overrun.
As can be gleaned from the artstyle it is more simplistic than its rivals. However, that is only on the surface, there is still plenty of depth if you are willing to look for it.
If what I described seems interesting, then give it a go. There is also multiplayer if you have friends. Unfortunately for fans of Factorio and others, they probably won’t find much enjoyment here, simply because it differs from the norm in many aspects.

𝐒𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲
There is no story. The enemies are coming, and you have to destroy them before they destroy you. War without reason.

𝐌𝐞𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐠𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐲
There are 3 main game modes – the campaign, multiplayer, and the editor. I will focus mostly on the multiplayer since that’s what I am most familiar with.
The main gameplay loop is simple. You and your core drop into a sector. At intervals of a few minutes, enemies will attack in an attempt to destroy the core. Your goal is to create the best defense possible, that can withstand their assault. After that, you launch the core and the resources it accumulated. At this stage, you get a view of a planet and can choose where to drop next. That’s where you also access the tech tree, from which you unlock new buildings and tech.
It's a very effective gameplay loop, mainly due to the well-designed progression system. After every drop, you unlock something new that will probably be useful in the future. However, as you become more powerful, so do your enemies. New types will be introduced, like flying ones, that bypass walls and are unhittable by most turrets. Not every map has the same materials and equivalent quantities. Thus, you will be required to often change tactics, like using different turrets or ammunition. Firepower alone won’t be enough; you also need to learn how to optimize your factory and get the most out of it in the limited space you are given. For some of the more extreme sectors, this is a must, as without the optimal defenses, defeat is inevitable.
There is plenty of content to keep anyone occupied for at least 10 to 20 hours. Not to mention an entire other planet where all the basics like mining and transport change completely.
Overall, what I am trying to imply is that Mindustry is similar to its competitors in only one aspect. The addition of tower defense and the constantly changing environment, turns what could be described as a Factorio clone into a fun and unique experience that I haven't seen anywhere else.


𝐆𝐫𝐚𝐩𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐬/𝐀𝐫𝐭𝐬𝐭𝐲𝐥𝐞
It is a game made mostly by one person, so realistic graphics are off the table. What I can say about the artstyle used is that it's nice to look at and conveys the information it has to. There is little to no unnecessary detail.

𝐀𝐭𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐩𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞/𝐈𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧
I can’t say that it has any atmosphere.

𝐒𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐤
Maybe it's because I’ve heard it so many times, but this soundtrack is very memorable. It's mostly synthwave (I think), utilizing piano and some other instruments that I don’t recognize. I don’t know the exact genre, but I’ve heard it described as the type of music you hear when the villain’s army of robots starts rolling out, which is a fitting description.
My favourite part is “Day5”.

𝐅𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐓𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬
Pro tip: don’t bother with conveyors, just use routers.

Once in a while, I will come across a game that exists beyond the standard gameplay genres already defined. They have the potential to be incredible experiences that hold me for hours, the only thing that could pull me away being some important task (like eating).
Loop Hero met that potential, in the beginning. Its genre is impossible to define. It’s a card/deck builder, but also an idle game, but actually not an idle game since constant attention is required. Gameplay wise, it's truly unique. The story aspect was also given attention. I was genuinely intrigued by the storyline and where it was going.
I never did satiate that curiosity, as I quit midway. Loop Hero suffers from being too long in the worst way possible – grinding. As such, it's hard for me to think of who would enjoy the entire game. Not to say that it's bad, but who would want to sit through all that grinding? Maybe that’s you, only you can say.

𝐒𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲
You play as the Hero (probably) trying to restore and save the world after the Lich decided to pretty much annihilate all of it, including all memories. This can be achieved by simply walking in circles. As I said, it is a fairly interesting story, with a unique setting. Saving the world is nothing new, but restoring it from almost nothing, that I haven’t seen before. There is a variety of characters, some of which you recruit, others you fight.
Overall, it gives meaning to your actions and it ties into the gameplay quite well. The game would be worse without it.

𝐌𝐞𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐠𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐲
Now that I think about it, I can throw rouge-lite and RTS into the list of genres this game almost is.
You have your character, the Hero, however you don’t control him. They simply walk endlessly in circles on a road, stopping every cycle at a camp to heal. Why? Because on this road monsters spawn. That’s a good thing since that’s when the actual gameplay begins. When the Hero slays a monster, you get a card or equipment.
The equipment is pretty straightforward. If it's better than what your character already has, then you switch it. There is some strategy when it comes to special abilities some weapons and armour have. The cards are where the real strategy is. They can be a wide range of things – meadows, mountains, vampire mansions, spider nests, and so on. These buildings and terrain can be placed either next to the road, or somewhere in the oblivion. Each one serves a different function, like the mountain gives more HP or the vampire mansion that spawns vampires on the road.
All of this creates a fascinating game of balance. You have to put more monsters on the road so that you can get more loot. Loot, which will prepare you for when the enemies become more powerful. However, too many monsters will mean your character loses more health than they can gain back.
The grind comes from the other aspect of Loop Hero, the camp. There, everything you’ve put down is converted into materials, used to upgrade the camp. These upgrades give you more cards and progress the story. Unfortunately, the amount needed at one point becomes too much. It ends up requiring multiple runs, that turn out practically identical, to make any meaningful progress.
In conclusion, I wish this game was shorter.

𝐆𝐫𝐚𝐩𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐬/𝐀𝐫𝐭𝐬𝐭𝐲𝐥𝐞
Loop Hero employs a simplistic 2D pixel artstyle. I think it works well enough to convey what has to be conveyed. The character portraits especially have given quite a lot of detail.
The sound effects have to be given praise – they fit very well into the pixel artstyle of the rest of the game.

𝐀𝐭𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐩𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞/𝐈𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧
Even as simplistic as the presentation is, there is still some atmosphere.
The feel it gives off reminds me of those old consoles, like GBA. Something you would find on there.

𝐒𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐤
I heard the ost being described as what you would hear in Castlevania. While I haven’t played any of them, I can definitely imagine it, given the retro and almost 8-bit nature of the music. That is to say, it fits with the theme of the game and I think even on its own it's damn good.
My favourite part is “Entropic Rhapsody”.

𝐅𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐓𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬
Did you know, most of the titles of the various songs in the ost are references to JoJo's Bizarre Adventure.

There has been a new genre of games that seems to have become quite popular recently. It's the type of game where you continuously do a relatively repetitive task intending to achieve 100% of something. For example - PowerWash Simulator.
In Hardspace: Shipbreaker instead of power washing you get to dismantle and scrap spaceships. Which is a surprisingly simple task. It's a perfect podcast game, not just because of the type of gameplay it has, but also because the story itself will make you want to drop the volume to zero.
If that is what you are looking for, then give the game a shot, just don't expect anything else.

𝐒𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲
You are an "employee" (debt slave) of the corporation LYNX, which specializes in scraping spaceships. It's the stereotypical cyberpunk world where inhumane companies rule and workers’ rights are not a thing. The game will never stop reminding you of that fact. It even makes you sign a gigantic document giving away all your free will and human rights when you first begin playing.
My problem with the story is it also tries to be an uplifting tale of workers rising up. This isn't done in the Cyberpunk 2077 "We have a city to burn" way, but rather the more realistic "let's form a union". Which is ridiculous to even consider. This isn't Amazon. LYNX owns you, and you are a billion dollars in debt to them. It reminds me of those coughing baby VS thermonuclear bomb memes.
It can be ignored, and you probably won't even be listening to the game’s audio anyway, so I don't think it's that big of an issue. Still, it did subtract from my enjoyment.

𝐌𝐞𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐠𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐲
On the other hand, the core gameplay mechanics are excellent. You pick a spaceship to scrap, then using the tools at your disposal - cutter, tethers, and others, you meticulously separate each part of the ship. There are multiple bays where you throw those parts, depending on the material they are made from. In the beginning, it's just what I described above, but as you progress, more challenges will appear. Like having to take out a reactor, or trying not to cut any fuel lines. All of this is done in space, so that means zero gravity and the consequences that come with it. There are some other stuff like skills and more tools, but what I described above is the core of the gameplay.
The only problem I can think of is that getting 100% seems incredibly difficult, as there will always be something that went into the wrong bay or got accidentally destroyed.
Overall, I had fun with my time with Hardspace (useless semicolon) Shipbreaker even if I never did finish the campaign. However, I attribute that more to circumstance rather than a fault of the game.

𝐆𝐫𝐚𝐩𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐬/𝐀𝐫𝐭𝐬𝐭𝐲𝐥𝐞
There isn't much to say here, as the graphics are fine. Not jaw-droppingly gorgeous or the opposite.

𝐀𝐭𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐩𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞/𝐈𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧
Even with the direction the story takes there is some atmosphere. It’s the same feeling as having a mundane job, but in a good way. Its like you are a competent person doing your job.

𝐒𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐤
I’m not sure quite how to describe the genre of music this game uses. It feels like what you would hear in a Western movie set in space. It does fit very well, but most of it blends in together and sounds very similar.
My favourite is "Apartment from Hell".

𝐅𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐓𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬
Okay, at the start of the game, you are 1 252 million dollars (or whatever currency they use) in debt. Now a hazard level 2 ship, which you get to early on and is pretty simple, pays out somewhere around 4 million at 80% completion. So, if we assume one of these ships a day and working every day, then that means a total of 313 days to get out of debt. Then another 313 days to become a billionaire. But that’s not all.
Scrapping the aforementioned ship takes 40 minutes. Taking the average work week of 8 hours, that gives us 12 ships a day. Let’s give some leeway and assume 10 ships a day. The average number of work days in a year is 250. Using all the previous data, we get a yearly salary of 10 billion (An eleven-figure salary). A billion dollars in debt doesn’t seem that bad after all.